To Love Someone
by axelkairi
Summary: What Leo said got Terra thinking, and what Terra said got Shadow thinking...What happens when two people learn what it means to love someone? Terra X Shadow one-shot


**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VI.**

A/N: Well, I was playing FF6 and got to the conversation Terra has with Leo about wanting to love. When Leo leaves, Shadow appears, and they have a short interlude. I, of course, am always on the lookout for crack couples - they are luhve - and I spotted Shadow and Terra as an interesting couple. I'm planning on this being a one-shot, but I might come back to it and continue; I'm not sure right now. I guess it just depends on how it's received. Hope you like! =)

**To Love Someone**

Shadow watched as Terra left, a dejected expression on her face. He stood there for a moment, then sighed, and made his way to the railing. It wasn't his fault she couldn't take the truth. She was the typical damsel-in-distress, and sometimes it honestly got on his nerves. He hadn't spent too much time around her, but this he already knew. Something about the shape of her eyes, the curve of her lip, which were actually quite nice now that he thought about it. They had a sort of pinkish color to them, an intriguing shade compared to the typical skin-colored lips of most girls he'd come across...

He blinked, surprised by his own thoughts. Her lips were intriguing? Where did he get off thinking that? Maybe spending too much time under the moon was finally affecting his mind. He'd heard stories of people who'd gone mad after sleeping in the moonlight, but had never paid them much thought. Maybe he should have heeded them...

An awful groaning sound reached his ears, and he made a face, recognizing the voice as the gray-haired thief, Locke. Shadow sighed once more in exasperation, uninterested in a chat with a sea-sick boy, and decided to forfeit his plan to sleep under the stars. He patted his leg, bringing Interceptor's attention back to him from a swimming catfish, and made his way back to the cabins, trying to push away the haunting look in Terra's eyes as she spoke in a soft whisper about love...

**---xxx---**

Terra shifted in her bed, trying vainly to fade into sleep. Her heart was pounding and aching at the same time, and she wasn't quite sure if the pounding was the cause of the ache, or the ache was the cause of the pounding. Frustrated, she wiped away what small traces of sleep had accumulated in her eyes, and sat up, hugging herself.

_Leo was right,_ she told herself. _I will find _someone,_ and when I find them I'll know what love feels like. It's selfish to want to love someone _now_ of all times._

She stood and went to the vanity on the other side of the room, bending down to look in the mirror and absentmindedly fix her hair. It looked so strange out of its tie, covering her neck and ears.

_Who would I love anyway? There's no one really here, except... _She frowned, her shoulders slumping. _Locke is only interested in Celes. He may be nice to me, and go out of his way to look out for me, but he only has friendship on his mind for me. I'm sure he'd look after Celes if she couldn't do it herself. And that's why he comes with me on these journeys: because I _can't_ take care of myself._ Terra sighed, closing her eyes. _What use am I to this group, except that I'm part esper? I'm sure if I was just a normal human I wouldn't even _be_ here. I'm pretty much useless..._

**---xxx---**

Shadow was unsure what came over him. He couldn't sleep, could hardly even force himself to lay down in his bed. Interceptor whined beside him, pacing in circles, sensing something wrong with his Master. Shadow half-halfheartedly patted him on the head and, satisfied, the Doberman curled up and laid down its head, its eyes still watching warily.

Something in Shadow wanted to go outside, but he knew that it wasn't as simple as that. It was as if a string was tied around him, pulling him into the hallway, down the corridor, before the door to Terra's room. Before he knew it, he was pulling off his mask and hood, shaking his dark hair in front of his eyes, scratching the back of his head. What was he doing here? He couldn't deny it; he wanted her, for some odd reason. But would she want him? She didn't look at him - at _anyone_ - the way she looked at that thief, and for the life of him Shadow couldn't understand why.

Too many relationships to keep track of; it was like a bad soap opera. Shadow wanted Terra, Terra wanted Locke, Locke wanted Celes, and Celes wanted Locke but denied herself and pretended like she didn't.

_Might as well give it a shot,_ some foreign, hopeful side of him said, and he listened to it, unsure why he did. He opened the door silently and stepped into the room on light feet, shutting it behind him without a sound. A blush creeped onto his face as he caught sight of Terra, leaning over a chair too fix her hair in a mirror. Her lips curved in a pout, and her eyes were sad, her blue curls bouncing as she shook her head. The thin nightdress she wore hugged her body in all the right places, leaving almost nothing to fantasy. Her long, shapely legs stood tall, her feet covered in purple slippers to match her gown.

Shadow swallowed, debating whether he should risk getting shot down or just leave now. He had just turned around when he heard her sigh, and it was such a heartbreaking sound that he couldn't leave. Even if she didn't want him, perhaps he could provide some ounce of comfort. At least enough to make her stop sighing.

**---xxx---**

Terra's eyes snapped open as she felt arms snaking their way around her waist, and she stood, feeling a body behind her where the arms connected. Her mouth opened to scream, at least tell them to leave immediately, but a voice in her ear shushed her quietly. It sounded familiar, but the man in the mirror looked like a complete stranger. Wavy black hair hung in his dark eyes and a dusting of stubble coated the lower half of his face. He wore nothing but black, and a black mask with red markings on it hung on his neck from red string...

She blinked. "Shadow?" she asked.

He hesitated, but answered, "Yes. I'm sorry for surprising you."

Terra turned, and his arms still remained around her waist. She wasn't sure if she was displeased by this or not. She was forced to rest her hands on his chest and look up at him to get decent eye contact. Her body felt hot at how close she was to this man, but she couldn't very well back away without seeming rude, so she stayed. "It's alright," she assured him, feeling the need to whisper in the silent room. "But why are you here? It's so late..."

Again he didn't answer right away, seeming to think about his response before saying it. "You seemed sad out on the boat, so I wanted to... cheer you up."

Terra blinked. "Really?" she couldn't stop herself from asking. It was so unlike him to care about someone else. Everything he did seemed to be for his own gain.

He raised an eyebrow, as if he took offense. "Is it so unbelievable?"

"No, no!" Terra said, blushing harder from embarrassment. "I only meant... well..."

Shadow looked away. "It's fine, I know what you mean."

Terra fell silent, looking down. Both of them said nothing for such a long time, and stayed in this awkward position for so long that she began to fidget. "Was there something you wanted to say to me?" She felt very forward for asking, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere without a catapult.

"Yes - well, actually no - um..." Terra stifled a giggle; she'd never pegged Shadow as the type of man to stutter. "It's not really something I'd like to _say_..."

"Just go ahead," she prodded. "Don't be nervous."

He opened his mouth, as if to say "I'm not nervous!" but shut it before he could. "Alright, um... close your eyes."

Terra blinked, furrowing her brow. "Why?"

Shadow gave her a frustrated look. "Just do it."

She gave in and shut her eyes, waiting patiently for whatever was to come. Time seemed to pass slower in the utter darkness, but then she felt something against her lips - _his_ lips. She opened her eyes and immediately tensed up, completely unprepared for something like this. Shadow didn't seem to notice - or perhaps he chose not to - and didn't move, except to tighten his arms around her waist, bringing her closer.

Terra's mind went blank with shock and her body took over, kissing him back timidly, letting him lead. He pulled her closer, and she complied, bringing her arms around his neck and pressing her body against his. This seemed to change him, and he deepened the kiss, coaxing her mouth open, and bringing his hands higher on her waist to her back. Terra shivered as his mouth left hers to press kisses against the skin of her neck, and soft sigh flew through her lips, bending her head back and, in turn, pressing herself against him.

"Shadow?" she gasped as he grazed his teeth on her ear lobe.

"Hm?"

"May... Maybe we should stop," she whispered. Her skin felt hot, yet she was shivering; all these strange feelings were frightening her.

Shadow groaned in disappointment, and kissed her neck one last time before pulling away. The look in his eyes made Terra swallow, as if he'd been leashed back from something just out of reach. "S-Sorry," she apologized.

Shadow blinked, surprised. "Don't be sorry," he told her. "It was my fault."

"No, I..." Terra looked down, her cheeks flushed red. "I liked it."

Shadow's jaw went slack, and he didn't breathe for a moment. He let his hands fall and stepped back, his hand going to the back of his head. "Oh," was all he said.

"I should probably get back to sleep," Terra said after minutes of silence.

"Yeah." Shadow nodded, and moved to leave.

"Thank you," she called after him. "I'm... I'm glad you came by."

He stopped in front of the door, just long enough to mutter "Me, too." Then he was gone.

That night, Terra found it easy to get to sleep. And her dreams, which were so often about being saved by a silver-haired boy, were now about fighting alongside a rugged man dressed in all black.

And in her dream, he was smiling.

**---xxx---**

Well, there you go! As I said, I might continue it; I'm not sure. I've already got like 4 stories going on right now, so I might just leave this and come back to it later. Review please! Tell me what you think!


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